Dragoon
's Transformation]] The Dragoon is the Knight of the Dragon who is chosen by fate to "rule over Dragons", as Rose the Dark Dragoon says. The essence of a dragon's soul was given to each dragoon in the form of their Dragoon Spirits. The traitor Greham's "Rule over Dragons" extended as far as defeating the armies of an entire nation; even after he and Feyrbrand the green-tusked wind dragon are defeated, the soldiers of Basil have been so thoroughly crushed that the forces of Sandora are able to march on and occupy the capital, Bale. Sandora wins the Serdian War, even if it ends differently for other reasons afterwards. The blue Dragoon Lenus' power to control her dragon is as complete: like Feyrbrand, Regole the sea dragon will fight on for his mistress even should she fall. Every dragoon's final magic allows them to summon a dragon of their respective element to attack the enemies (e.g. Dart the Red-eyed Dragoon level 5 magic "Red-eyed Dragon" can be seen summoning a dragon, a pillar of fire burns through the earth and then a dragon appears from it). Seven Dragoon warriors (Zieg, Rose, Belzac, Kanzas, Damia, Syuveil and Shirley) were sent by Emperor Diaz to liberate humankind from the domination of the Winglies in the Dragon Campaign eleven thousand years ago prior to the beginning of the game. Their Dragoon Spirits, and the Dragoon transformations that they empower, were given to Dart, Lavitz, Albert, Shana, Miranda, Haschel, Kongol and Meru. Rose continued to hold hers. 's Transformation]] A Dragoon is the chosen vessel of the essence of a Dragon's soul: a Dragoon Spirit. The being of its choice becomes a Dragoon. Dragoon Spirits take form in a crystallized colored stone. There are only eight in existence – specifically, seven original spirits and one new spirit. When the prospective host obtains this power, the stone glows brightly and the stone levitates toward its new owner and the Dragoon is said to have been recognized by the Spirit. There are different Dragoon Spirits of the elements Fire, Wind, Light, Thunder, Earth and Water. Rose retained her Dragoon Spirit with its Dark element, using it during her 11,000 year vigil to prevent the spawn of the God of Destruction from uniting with the Moon That Never Sets. Newly appeared in Dart's time, the Divine Dragoon spirit from the Divine Dragon can only be fully used by Dart. Upon transforming, various stats are increased depending on the Spirit; they also have access to powerful magic spells that use MP rather than items. When 3 dragoons are on the field with their SP bars filled, you can activate them all at once with the Special transformation, engaging battle on a Dragoon Battle Field with the Dragoon who initiated the Special at advantage. Story The Origin of the Dragoons The Dragoons Spirits were created through a method utilized by the humans of the Dragon Campaign. Dragoons * The Red-Eyed Dragoon Spirit recognized Zieg and Dart * The Jade Dragoon Spirit recognized Syuveil, Greham, Lavitz, and Albert * The White-Silver Dragoon Spirit recognized Shirley, Shana and Miranda * The Dark Dragoon Spirit recognized Rose * The Violet Dragoon Spirit recognized Kanzas, Emperor Doel, and Haschel * The Blue-Sea Dragoon Spirit recognized Damia, Lenus, and Meru * The Golden Dragoon Spirit recognized Belzac and Kongol and presumably Indora * The Divine Dragoon Spirit recognized Dart Lloyd was not recognized by the Divine Dragoon Spirit. Although Lloyd obtained from the Divine Dragon the Divine Spirit Stone, it did not react to him: Lloyd: "As I expected, it doesn't sparkle in my hands.". Lloyd's Wingly armor has been confused for the Divine Dragoon armor, but even if that were possible, it has noticeable differences, including the lack of the iconic wings of a Dragoon that even fellow Winglies Lenus and Meru display. Dragoon Nature Most of the Dragoon Spirit Legends assume that there is something extraordinary about the Dragoon recipient, whether it be blood or destiny or a mutual compatibility between the Spirit and the Dragoon, or even nothing more exalted than not failing to meet a certain standard. Since the Dragoon Spirit has a will of its own, we assume that it chooses Dragoons for a reason, and the reason must be something about them that suits the purposes of the Spirit. But also, the will of the Spirit can be overcome by the Dragoon; this is the best explanation for Greham, and Doel, and Melbu Frahma's second attempt, when he was not only not weakened by his confinement, but strengthened by the Virage Embryo. All three sought power; all three were bound and determined to dominate beyond the already grand spheres of influence allotted to them by others. The Spirits may be capricious or unwilling or even a loose cannon, and the Dragoon may be benevolent or malevolent, but they must always be worthy and great. Transformation 's Transformation]] Rose explains that Humans fight war by making themselves enter insanity; war is not in their nature. Dragon's "Battle Rage" is the source of power for the Dragoons, but it is only the flame which requires combat to feed the fire. The Dragoon's need for this fuel is the reason that transformation into Dragoon form is extremely difficult outside of battle. Within the game, this "insanity" is measured in units known as SP (Spirit Points) which is needed in order to transform into and sustain the Dragoon. When enough SP has been accumulated, a new command appears on the command bar, and Dragoon Transformation is possible. The wielder of the Dragoon Spirit can eventually summon a dragon of tremendous power. The transformation animations can be toggled between short and long in the Menu. A given Spirit's Dragoon lends a different appearance to each host. There are eight known Spirits, and nineteen Dragoons; twenty if you count both of Dart's forms (which prove that the same host appears different with different Spirits). Each and every one looks different. Battle While transformed, the only two options available to the player are D-Attack (Dragoon Attack) and Magic. D-Attack displays a rotary dial and successfully activating an attack all four times the indicator moves around the dial unleashes a combination of four attacks plus a bonus attack on the opponent. Each dragoon has an exclusive list of magic appropriate for their respective element. Progressively powerful and costly spells are added for each Dragoon level achieved, with a maximum of four (except Kongol, whose maximum is three and Dart's Divine Dragoon form, whose maximum is two). D-Attack In Dragoon form, the character's who transformed into it has their attack mode changed and enhanced, known as D-Attack. It is different from addition, but timing system precision remains. The timing signal is no longer a spiraling box; now it is a spinning light on the circumference of a "Dragoon Spirit Time-Dial". When the light is very near the mark at the top, that is the moment to press the X button. The standard attack is pressing it each of the four (or three, in Kongol's case) times it goes around. Each time the timing is sufficiently accurate, the light not only goes an additional time around the circle, but gains momentum around the circle,https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/197765-the-legend-of-dragoon/62839760 and a new timing is enabled near the end of its trip. So what would happen on the final button press? Would it travel around another time, and make you wait for a timing that never happens? No, they anticipated that. The last, fifth (or Kongol's fourth) time is a little different. :Firstly, the light stops at the top of the dial. No waiting. Whatever the result, it happens immediately. But because it has already stopped dead center, while the first four timings can get away with hitting a fraction late, the last cannot.https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/197765-the-legend-of-dragoon/62839760 Even if it were not known to be impossible to register a fifth timing after the light reaches the top, this fact alone would indicate that it might be impossible. :Secondly, although there is no change in when the attack commences, the results change extremely favorably if the player succeeds with the fifth timing. The Dragoon will do a "Perfect" attack, which combines Physical and Magical Attacks' strength and additionally, because it is now elemental damage, it can cause more damage to enemies that are the opposing element. Magic ' Transformation]] Magic is a special command that appeared and usable only by Dragoons. Every dragoon has their own magic skills and also represents their elements. Magic is calculated by magic attack attribute, which makes the damage caused by magic attack cause less damage to enemies with same elements and cause more damage to opposing elements. Magic uses MP (Magic Power), every dragoons has the same number of MP with the minimum 20 at dragoon level 1 and maximum 100 at dragoon level 5. Not all magic is used to attack, some of them are used for healing and supporting. Gameplay As Dragoon Spirits amplify the user's powers, the Dragoon form grants tremendous advantages for battle, but also some disadvantages. The weakness of Dragoons is that they are unable to run away, guard, use items, and unable to return to human form until their spirit power gauge empties. But then, maybe they don't really have to do any of those things. Rose's Astral Drain is a favorite among starting players; with its ability to both damage the enemy and heal, it is like Counter Attack in other games: it breaks a stalemate or standoff and allows the player to advance ahead in damage while still maintaining their health. But this is nothing in comparison to Shana's White Silver Dragon: 100% damage plus 100% recovery can raise two party members from the dead, heal them to full, and attack the enemy. One MP potion and one of Shana's 150-SP attacks later, and she is ready to do it all again. Therefore, three actions instead of the four it would take to throw two Angel's Prayers, a Healing Rain, and an Attack Item. And one item instead of four. As Dragons are immune to human ailments, Dragoons who possess their soul and power are also immune to the ailments. If they were affected by one, turning into Dragoon will eliminate the ailment. So Dragoon form is pretty much a standard replacement for carrying around Body Purifiers and Mind Purifiers. 's Transformation]] The new attack command D-Attack, or Dragoon Attack, uses a spirit dial, where timing is key. Once you know the secret of it, it is arguably easier than normal Additions. If done perfectly, it will give a powerful finishing attack with over 50% more damage, of the Dragoon's element type. Dragoon Additions become less powerful, on the whole, than Master Level Additions late in the game. But then, that means they are more powerful in the early game. And it is not true that the Dragoon Form does not have the same offensive maximum potential as a character's Master Addition. Only Meru has a Master Attack stronger than a Perfect Dragoon Addition with its elemental attack if it gets the 50% bonus against an opposite element enemy. And of course that means that any Special Element Dimension D-Attacks will automatically gain the 50% bonus and autocomplete, for more damage than Master Level Additions, against any element enemy, for as many turns as the character has Dragoon Levels. Dragoons also gain special elemental powers corresponding to the user and the spirit, with great attribute boosts to the user. The magic command allows the Dragoon to unleash their Magical Attack stat (key to getting the most out of Shana and Meru without Attack Items) and the extra damage that one element deals to its opposite. 's Transformation]] Despite the maximum Dragoon Addition power being stronger than most Master Level Additions, this relies on the enemy being weak to the element of the Dragoon, which is not always the case, and can only be true of one Dragoon per enemy, outside of the Element Dimension. There is also minor systemic flaws in the system of using Additions to gain SP to gain Dragoon Levels. Early in the game, players want to level up their Dragoons, so they use Additions to gain SP. So each time they are using their Dragoons, they are not gaining SP. Dragoons are easier to use than Additions, so casual, beginner, or just less good players might prefer them. No matter, all they have to do is complete Additions to gain SP so they can level the Dragoons.. Damage is not everything. There are eight Dragoon abilities with special effects, from four of the seven Dragoons. Three from Shana/Miranda, Lavitz/Albert's Rose Storm, three from Rose, and one from Meru, are skills that do something other than, or something as well as damage. Effects that you cannot get from Items, or even weapons: the Death and Fear weapons cannot affect all enemies at once. Dragoon Transformations can be set to a shorter animation but they still take quite a long time. The transformation itself is only ever a fraction new: whatever part of the battle background one can see through all the light effects. On the other hand, Dragoon transformations are not only a wonder to behold but a new one at first, and every time a new Dragoon spell is obtained. The dynamic lighting of the Special Element Dimension transformation lights up the enemies as well as the background, for some interesting effects. 's Transformation]] Some special characters have skills that specifically target Dragoons, in an attempt by the developers to balance what they anticipated to be overpowered Dragoons, and force players to use normal form, if only in a few select fights. In the second battle with Lloyd, he utilizes the Dragon Buster, an ancient weapon capable of killing a dragoon in a single strike. Up to two characters can be protected from this with the Talisman. It even makes the fight unfair, since Lloyd relentlessly, or should we say, uselessly, attacks the invulnerable Dragoons. Some boss fights have an effect that will weaken a Dragoon until they are weaker than their base form: the Grand Jewel can utilize the Dragon Block Staff it guards. So, good luck getting good Dragoon attacks in, but with Rose Storm, even Grand Jewel's infamous magical attacks are less effective against Dragoons than without Rose Storm, against normal form. As long as no characters gain 200 or more SP they can never be attacked in Dragoon form. Melbu Frahma possesses a similar ability, but then, he is the final boss. The first fight against the Divine Dragon has the Dragoons using the Dragon Block Staff and weakening their own Dragoon forms in the process, but just use the same strategy as with Grand Jewel. Again, Rose Storm and Miranda's healing abilities are unaffected, and Divine Damage is weak to magic damage anyway. He can be disposed of, as with anything really, with a lot of Attack Items, but using Dragoon when you are not supposed to is considerably more fashionable. Go into combat with any character on a single Dragoon turn on their gauge, do whatever, drop out of Dragoon, and the Dragon Block Staff is only a minor inconvenience. There is a drawback to Dragoon form that is seldom recognized: using Dragoon Levels up XP just like normal form, but Dragoon form does not level up anything else; even itself. However, this drawback can be turned into a Challenge: Dragoon whenever possible. Spirit Points has a Dragoon Spirit at this point, so only she can gain Spirit Points and has a Spirit Gauge; Dart's Spirit is stolen and Meru's is not until Prison Island. Fighting a Dragonfly in Valley of Corrupted Gravity]] The Dragons' fury, which for Humans is "insanity", fuels the Dragoons transformation which in turn grants them their powers. It is measured in units of SP (Spirit Points) which act in 2 ways: First, and most noticeably, SP fills the lowermost "Spirit Gauge" in the bottom menu inside battle. It takes 100 SP for a single bar, which grants a single turn as a dragoon inside battle. Secondly, acquiring SP levels up the Dragoon Spirits; this adds an incentive to use and level some of the less powerful, but more SP rich additions. Gaining SP There are three ways to gain SP in battle. The most important is through additions. Of course, different additions at different levels are capable of different amounts of SP. The second is Spirit Potions that heal 100 SP. The third way is through equips. 's Transformation]] Some equips will increase the amount of SP gained through additions, and some simply generate SP when attacked. The Dispirit status effect makes SP gain impossible until the character is healed, by using a dragoon (if he/she had enough SP before becoming dispirited), by using a mind purifier or visiting a clinic. Spirit Potions drop from Icicle Ball, Will-O-Wisp, Mermaid, or Sandworm, all at the same 8% rate. Or they can be won or indirectly bought (200G for 20 tickets) at the Arena minigames in Lohan. There is evidencehttps://youtu.be/nv9rdt0S0y0 that SP is applied towards Dart's Dragoon level while his Dragoon Spirit is in the hands of the Gehrich gang. If this is true, then it may also be true that all the other characters (except Rose and Miranda, a) gain SP towards Dragoon while mere mortals. Special When all characters in the team are at maximum SP and in normal form, any character can initiate a Special Dragoon transformation. The battlefield begins to glows the color of the Dragoon Spirit initiating transformation, attacks of that Spirit's element are given a bonus, and attacks of the opposing element are weakened. The initiating character gets the highest number of physical attacks automatically, without having to use the Dragoon attack dial. Dragoon Level 's Transformation|left]] Gaining experience from victory in battle only has any effect of the character Level, not the addition or the Dragoon Level. As mentioned above, accumulating SP is what levels up the Dragoons. The number of bars of SP you can accumulate is directly proportional to the Dragoon's level. (At level 5, you can accumulate 500 SP, in 5 bars, which means the maximum of 5 turns as a Dragoon inside Battle). In addition to being able to spend a greater time as a Dragoon, gaining Dragoon Levels increases the Dragoons' stats (stronger attack, defense and magic while in Dragoon form), and unlocks new magic."on what level Albert gets his Dragoon Spirit Lvl 5?". GameSpot. Mars 24, 2010. Retrieved April 23, 2010. A character with Dragoon Level two or more will gain more than 100 SP. This additional SP is displayed as a turquoise colored bar over the first blue one, then a yellow over the turquoise, orange over the yellow, and finally the fifth red bar. Each of these bars are sufficient to remain in Dragoon form for one turn, and each is used up at the end of the turn; the only way to return to human form is to end the battle or run out of full SP bars. Only a full bar of SP is sufficient for the transformation; if a character has one full bar and a partially filled bar and transforms, the partial SP is lost. The chart below depicts how much SP you must accumulate in order to reach the next level of Dragoon. SP does not stop accumulating towards your next level when your bars become full, so try to constantly reach the end of your additions. Dragoon Elements and Colors The system is designed to be simple and intuitive, but just in case: Trivia *It takes Meru the least amount of time to level up her Dragoon Level due to not only a short amount of SP needed to reach level 3, but the fact that she can gain the highest possible amount of SP by equipping the Pretty Hammer and Wargod's Sash to her, and selecting Cool Boogie at level 5 for 495 SP. Meru gets her Dragoon Spirit in the last battle of disc 2 *Due to Kongol's addition that provides low amounts of SP, he will be able to reach level 3 at a earlier time. *Despite a reduction, similar to Meru's, in the SP required to reach level 3, it still takes Kongol the longest amount of time for him to reach Dragoon Level 5. He is slow and his Additions do not gain much SP. Using Spirit Potions on him will help. For equips, there is something to be said for either the Wargod's Sash or the Bandit's Ring, since giving him +20 Speed not only gets him more than 50% faster SP but more than 50% faster damage as well. Either way, Bandit's Shoes are a must: they also grant +20 Speed and the shoes slot has no counterpart to the Wargod's Sash. Speed Up doubles Speed, but 100% more of a low number is less than 100% of a high one. Haschel and the other fleet of foot characters benefit more. * Most characters would require 393 Spirit Potions to max out their Dragoon, costing 78,600G at the Arena in Lohan. * There certainly seems to be similarities between the magics of the Dragoon hosts of a given Dragoon Spirit, but there are many differences also. Eg, Greham's "Dragon Crucification", Doel's "Judgment Storm", and Lenus' "Pillar Break". Some of the differences are clearly to do with the Dragoon, though, such as Doel's use of swords instead of knuckles and Lenus' chakrams where Meru uses a hammer. * As a result of Dart gaining the Divine Dragoon Spirit, his Element changes from Fire to Non-Element, thus making him strong against all Elements and weak against none. He is the only character to have multiple Elements. Gallery DarkDragoonSpiritisBorn.png|Rose draws the Dark Dragoon Spirit from the Darkness Dragon Red-EyedDragoonSpirit.png|The Red-Eyed Dragoon Spirit awakens JadeDragoonSpirit.png|Lavitz is recognized by the Jade Dragoon Spirit WhiteSilverDragoonSpiritShana.png|The White Silver Dragoon Spirit chooses Shana JadeDragoonSpiritLeavesAlbert.png|Albert is chosen by the Jade Dragoon Spirit VioletDragoonSpiritHaschel.png|The Violet Dragoon Spirit chooses Haschel BlueSeaDragoonSpirit.png|Meru is chosen by the Blue Sea Dragoon Spirit DDS1.png|Lloyd holds the Divine Dragoon Spirit WhiteSilverDragoonSpiritMiranda.png|Miranda becomes the new wielder of the White Silver Dragoon Spirit GoldenDragoonSpiritKongol.png|Kongol inherits the Golden Dragoon Spirit from his brother RedEyedDragoonSpiritZieg.png|Zeig is still recognized by the Red-Eyed Dragoon Spirit DivineDragoonSpiritDart.png|The Divine Dragoon Spirit is handed to Dart Citations Category:Legends * Category:Dragons Category:Species